Improve laptop performance, quesions about DDR choice

I would be very grateful if the members of this internet forum could assist me in making the right choice. I intend to improve my old and inexpensive, albeit reliable laptop. The laptop in question is a Dell Inspiron n4050 with the following specifications:

- Intel B815
- Intel HD Graphics (G2 Pentium/Celeron 1.1/1.15 GHz)
Dell(1028 0502) 786MB
- Sandy Bridge HM67 Motherboard
- pretty standard HDD
- Samsung M471B5773CHS-CH9 1x2GB
2GB SODIMM DDR3 1333 MHz
1 of 2 slots used

The reason why I intend to improve it is to keep it as a decent computer that would be used for surfing the web and lite Office work. The laptop in question would be used as a secondary computer, while a new one would fill in the primary role.

The computer was shipped with a no more than standard 500GB HDD. I swapped it for a Samsung PM851 256GB SSD which, coupled with a fresh Windows install, is working flawlessly. Big improvement, both for comfort and speed.

My question would be, would an additional 2GB of RAM help with increasing the performance of the system? Is the, rather inexpensive, additional memory module worth the effort? Will I be able to combine a module from another manufacturer? Naturally, the one with the same specifications. Should I buy more than 2GB for such a simple machine? Is it possible to find faster DDR3 for the laptop I own? Or is the 1333MHz one the maximum for my system? Should I buy memory with different voltage and latency values? Should I buy memory with more memory chips on a module? Or should I rather implement the simplest solution, and just purchase the identical 2GB module?

 

If you only have 2 GB of RAM, I'd bump that to 6 or 8 GB ideally. RAM frequency won't do much, but 2 GB RAM is low for Windows 7, 8.1 or 10.

 

Considering you only have 2 ram slots... bumping the RAM to 4 GB would likely be most cost effective.
Though, if the Intel specs on their website are accurate for your CPU, it seems it can support up to 16GB RAM.
8 GB should be doable (assuming that Dell didn't artificially limit RAM support) in that case.

You can try searching on e-bay for suitable RAM sticks such as: so-dimm DDR3 8GB (if you want to go to that size).

Apart from that, the only other thing you can do to improve the laptop would be to get an SSD and replace the hdd.
It depends on how much you want to spend, but I think a 256GB SSD should be enough... and you can keep your existing HDD as an external one... or you could replace the optical drive with a caddy and put the HDD in there in its place.
Up to you.

 

Deks, I think you misunderstood my first post. I have bought an SSD, and I am very satisfied with it. The difference in both speed and comfort (silence) is astonishing.

I opted for 2x4GB DDR3 1333MHz, Kingston. 35$
Thank you all for your help.

 

Even with a relatively slow processor like the one you have, you should see some difference, especially if you tend to leave programs open.

 

Ah, I missed the fact you put in an SSD.
Well, let us know how the RAM upgrade goes.
Should be a decent bump up in memory.

Also, looking at the CPU... what you might consider doing is upgrading that as well.
Here's the list of potentially compatible CPU's:
http://www.cpu-upgrade.com/CPUs/Intel/Mobile_Celeron_Dual-Core/B815.html

2630QM is a quad core CPU with 8 threads and has an IGP (intel 3000) if I'm not mistaken.
The thing is however 45W TDP.

You need to make sure your laptop can handle a 45W CPU though. 35W is not a big distance away from it... so it might...
Alternatively... you could get i5 2520m if supported - comes with an Intel 3000 igp as well, you get 2 cores and 4 threads though.. and its about £20 off ebay (and about double performance of your Celeron).

Cheap upgrade.
If the laptop can handle 2630QM... that would be a far better upgrade, but again, it's 45W, and I don't know if your cooling could handle it.
It's about £54-£55 off ebay I think if you're getting it from UK... you can pay lower if you want it sent from overseas (which depends on your location, etc.).

 

I can confirm that this is true. (for the people contemplating whether the additional RAM is worth the investment)
After installing an SSD, putting RAM to work in "full" dual channel mode (a pair of identical modules working in two RAM slots), putting 8GB RAM, my computer operates almost effortlessly. The noise is lacking, as if the feeble Intel B815 Celeron is suddenly a more capable processor. The start-up time has been improved. The whole system seems more responsive.

I am using MemInfo to monitor the RAM usage. And @tijo, you are right. I do tend to leave a lot of programs open. In the past, switching between them was a nightmare, not any more. MemInfo displays RAM usage of about 50% while I am working. Meaning that 4GB of the available 8 is full. Which works out to be twice the available RAM before the upgrade!

Furthermore, I have ordered an i5-2450m( purchased for 20$) to replace the aforementioned sluggish CPU.

 

@Deks

Thank you for your suggestion. You posted yours while I was writing my reply to tijo.
I have ordered the 2450m because I found one not far from where I live. I will have it delivered in two days. My opinion is that it will provide sufficient computing power for my needs. I fancied a quad-core, but in the end opted for the simplest solution. A processor with the identical TDP rating.

 

That's why I suggested the i5-2520M as an alternative, because it's also 35W (identical to your Celeron).

The thing with 45W TDP is as I mentioned tricky because we don't know if your cooling could handle a 45W TDP CPU.
If it can, then by all means, upgrade to 2630QM (because it would provide more performance and last a lot longer too if you plan on keeping your current laptop for a while).

What you could do is get the 2630QM from someone who's near, put it in, see if it works and how it behaves, and if it doesn't behave properly temperature-wise (too much to handle for the cooling), then just return it.
Also, not sure if those Sandy Bridge CPU's can undervolt or not.
Early days presented issues in that department with Throttlestop, but the software progressed since then quite a bit... so XTU or Throttlestop might do the trick.

You could experiment with undervolting your i5 2450 when it arrives though and see what works

 

Thank you for your suggestion.
I will attempt such a feat in the future, but unfortunately not at the moment. This laptop is the sole computer in my home at the moment, and such an endeavor would prove to be ruinous for my work.

For the money invested, my guess is that the 2450m will do the job amply. Eventually, right after I purchase a new laptop, approximately in a year's time, I will be able to upgrade this one further. I must admit that I long for that quad-core, just for the sake of it. But, after assessing the situation, I decided to postpone my plan. I was scared that I would damage the whole system. And there is the question of free time, which I would need in order to adjust the computer so that it could work properly with the higher TDP CPU.